Berklee Summer in the City

The Berklee Sumer in the City concert series, sponsored by Natixis Global Asset Management, presents more than 200 free performances throughout the Greater Boston area from May through September. Bringing neighborhoods alive with free programs of pop, rock, jazz, Latin, and more, some of Berklee’s most promising young artists are poised to share the skills they hone on campus with the local community. The Boston-area concerts take place in vibrant destinations throughout the city, from the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, Georges Island, and Atlantic Wharf to communities with strong cultural identities ranging from Jamaica Plain and Roxbury to East Boston and the South End. Just outside of Boston, audiences can take in free Summer in the City shows in places like Harvard Square’s Longfellow House and Club Passim, Salem’s Derby Square, the Charlestown Navy Yard, and more.

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Past Events

Check out some of the great shows that have been part of the Summer in the City series in prior years.

Wambura Mitaru's eclectic and fluid music blends funk, soul, R&B, jazz, hip-hop, and sounds from her African background. Annette “annieSoul” Oduor is an artist with a mission to showcase Africa's diversity, creativity, and intellect through her music.

Ellie Buckland and Isa Burke are fiddlers and singer-songwriters who love traditional music and close harmonies. With two fiddles, two guitars, and two intertwining voices, they perform old folk songs, new Americana, and original songs in an acoustic roots style. They will be joined by Mali-Agat Obomsawin on bass.

Cettina Donato is an Italian pianist and composer. In 2008, she attended the Umbria Jazz Clinics in Perugia where she was awarded a scholarship to attend Berklee. Her first album, Pristine, contains her own compositions and arrangements.

Apoena’s music is a concise mixture of the many types he heard throughout childhood. Coming from a family of actors, musicians, acrobats, and variety performers, his influences range from Brazilian folk and pop to contemporary indie rock and world jazz.

…And I hope you like jammin’ too. The Bob Marley Ensemble will share its music and message. Matt Jenson, assistant professor of piano at Berklee College of Music, is creator of the class entitled “The Music and Life of Bob Marley,” which takes an in-depth study of his life, maintaining the utmost respect for the soulfulness of his music and for his message of love and resistance to oppression.

Comprising Zerlina Devi on piano, Alex Dyring on bass, and Elena Bonomo on drums, Elena Bonomo Trio puts a fresh spin on tunes from the Great American Songbook, drawing influences from fusion, hip-hop, and R&B.

Laney Jones's voice has been described as a mix of lemon, molasses, gin, and gunpowder. Matched with banjo, ukelele, and harmonica mastery, her music bursts with color threaded with enigmatic tales of swamp folk.

Blind from birth, pianist Yakir Arbib has the gift of synesthesia (a blending of the senses), allowing him to "see" tones as distinct colors. It inspired his recent piece, "Waves of Visions," a collaboration with visual artist Tamar Haber-Schaim.

Lampião performs various rhythms of Brazilian music such as choro, samba, baião, and maracatu. Its repertoire consists of original songs and compositions by Brazilian composers such as Pixinguinha, Cartola, Edu Lobo, and Hermeto Pascoal, among others.

Blind from birth, pianist Yakir Arbib has the gift of synesthesia (a blending of the senses), allowing him to "see" tones as distinct colors. It inspired his recent piece, "Waves of Visions," a collaboration with visual artist Tamar Haber-Schaim.

Blind from birth, pianist Yakir Arbib has the gift of synesthesia (a blending of the senses), allowing him to "see" tones as distinct colors. It inspired his recent piece, "Waves of Visions," a collaboration with visual artist Tamar Haber-Schaim.

OSIRIS FIRE frontman Itamar Edelman combines influences from his reggae-rich hometown of Ithaca, New York (the birthplace of John Brown's Body and 10 Ft Ganja Plant), with the heavy bass and electronic sounds of the Boston underground hip-hop scene to create an original genre-defying sound.